Lisa's Laws: Zooming to Comic Con, in costume and with Dad

Sunday

Oct 13, 2013 at 2:00 AM

Today, my husband, Chris, and our Bella left the house here on Firehouse Road early and headed into New York, and if Chris dresses today as he does on most other days, he's almost certainly wearing a pair of black pants and, if it's chilly, a black long-sleeved shirt made out some new high-performance synthetic fabric. But not if it's warm today. If it's warm, his black high-performance shirt will have short sleeves.

Lisa Ramirez

Today, my husband, Chris, and our Bella left the house here on Firehouse Road early and headed into New York, and if Chris dresses today as he does on most other days, he's almost certainly wearing a pair of black pants and, if it's chilly, a black long-sleeved shirt made out some new high-performance synthetic fabric. But not if it's warm today. If it's warm, his black high-performance shirt will have short sleeves.

Bella, though, will be in full Super Bella regalia, which includes, but is not limited to, a pink superhero cape, Converse extra-high-top black boots, pink tights, black bike shorts and a black T-shirt emblazoned with the Super Bella insignia, which is a big pink "B" on a kapow! starburst. She's also wearing a mask, because, as everyone knows, superheroes have to keep their true identity concealed; otherwise, her archenemies and even run-of-the-mill foes would figure out who she really is in her day-to-day life and could wreak evil revenge by going after her loved ones. I mean, look what happened to Gwen Stacy.

Anyway, they're going to Comic Con, where Bella, in her hot pink and black (with sparkles) superhero garb, will blend in nicely with the zombies, the mutants, the villains the extraterrestrials, the Jedis, the vampires, the occasional hobbit, and, of course, thousands and thousands of superheroes. Chris, in fact, in his regular pants and regular shirt, might be the one attracting odd looks.

It is a very, very big deal, this whole Comic Con thing, especially if you're a girl in middle school who loves television shows featuring supernatural characters, have binge-watched the entire "Star Trek" canon, and know what a cosplayer is.

In preparation for the convention, Bella designed her costume herself, inspired by equal parts Superman (the cape), Wonder Woman (the shorts), Joey Ramone (the Converse) and Betsey Johnson (the hot pink). What, though, she's been asking, should her superpowers be?

The options are nearly limitless. She could fly or have the ability to breathe under water, she could control the elements, like wind and fire. Maybe she could be invisible, or able to teleport instantly from one place to another. She could have extraordinary strength and speed and endurance, or even be able to talk to animals, you know, like Snow White but like if Snow White didn't just need help cleaning the dwarves' house, but could get the little squirrels and the bluebirds to battle the aforementioned archenemy.

Picking a superpower is more difficult that you'd think.

But what Bella doesn't completely realize is that she wields a force so mighty and great that she can manipulate time, schedules and even minds.

There are, after all, many ways a guy might choose to spend an autumn Sunday — there are football games on televisions to watch and couches on which to nap. The last few episodes of "Breaking Bad" need to be watched, there are leaves to rake and firewood to split and stack.

But today, one such guy got behind the wheel of his big black pickup truck and headed east on a journey he never imagined he might make.

And in the passenger seat beside him was a girl in a hot pink superhero cape.